Case Digest (G.R. No. 237412)
Facts:
Republic of the Philippines v. Remar A. Quinonez, G.R. No. 237412, January 06, 2020, First Division, Caguioa, J., writing for the Court.The petition arose from a summary proceeding filed by Remar A. Quinonez (respondent) for the declaration of presumptive death of his wife, Lovelyn Uriarte Quinonez (Lovelyn), under Article 41 of the Family Code so that he may remarry. Remar and Lovelyn married on August 16, 1997, and had two children. Lovelyn traveled to Manila in 2001 and, after initial frequent communications, contact tapered off and eventually ceased; Remar thereafter undertook various searches over approximately ten years without locating her and alleged inquiries of relatives revealed that Lovelyn was cohabiting with another man.
On February 27, 2013, Remar filed a Petition for Declaration of Presumptive Death in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Special Proceedings No. 7669. After publication and posting and with no opposition, the RTC issued judgment on April 11, 2016, declaring Lovelyn presumptively dead pursuant to Article 41 of the Family Code. The RTC found Remar’s efforts to locate his wife sufficient and, as summary proceedings, the judgment became immediately final and executory under Articles 238 and 247 of the Family Code.
The Republic of the Philippines, through the Office of the Solicitor General, filed a Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65 with the Court of Appeals (CA), alleging grave abuse of discretion by the RTC for having declared presumptive death without proof of “proper and honest-to-goodness inquiries” and describing Remar’s search as passive. The CA denied the petition by Decision dated June 29, 2017 and later denied the Republic’s motion for reconsideration by Resolution dated January 31, 2018, holding among other things that the Republic failed to file a prior motion for reconsideration with the RTC and that the CA could not review factual findings via certiorari.
The Republic elev...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the Republic’s direct resort to the Court of Appeals by a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 proper despite its failure to file a prior motion for reconsideration with the RTC (a procedural question)?
- Did the Court of Appeals err in upholding the RTC’s declaration of presumptive death of Lovelyn under Article 41 of the Family Code—specifically, did Remar prove a...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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